-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built his keynote address to the Republican National Convention on the theme of telling tough truths to the nation . `` We have become paralyzed by our desire to be loved , '' announced Christie , showing off the gruff , no-nonsense style that catapulted him into the governor 's mansion .

It 's only fair to mention some tough truths about his speech , his tenure as governor and the state of the Republican campaign for president .

The most striking truth -LRB- as Democrats pointed out even before the address -RRB- is that New Jersey under Christie has suffered from a severely troubled economy and soaring costs of government : the very things that Republicans like Christie blame on Democrats .

As of July , New Jersey 's unemployment rate stands at 9.8 % : higher than the national average , fourth worst among the 50 states and the highest level in 35 years . The rate is higher than on the day Christie took office in 2010 and nearly a full percentage point higher than earlier this year , when Christie 's State of the State address exultantly and repeatedly claimed that a `` New Jersey Comeback '' was under way .

And despite Christie 's boasts about trimming the cost of government in the Garden State -- the keynote speech repeated his frequent claim of balancing three state budgets -- some fiscal watchdogs attribute the budgets to creative accounting , not true cost containment .

`` A hard truth Christie absolutely will not tell is that every one of his budgets has been unbalanced by more than $ 2.5 billion , '' notes Bloomberg news blogger Josh Barro , citing Christie 's bad habit -- started by previous governors -- of skimping on payments into the state 's pension fund .

This year , for example , Christie paid just over $ 1 billion into the fund , a record amount but far less than the $ 3.74 billion that actuaries said was needed , according to Barro . Those unpaid billions are , in effect , a loan that will have to be repaid by taxpayers someday .

No wonder Christie omitted `` New Jersey Comeback '' from his keynote address .

Put aside the ugly economics , and Christie 's speech was unusually good . He read well from the teleprompter , even though he normally speaks without a prepared text . And he was persuasive , showing off the skills of his old job as a federal prosecutor .

Most important , from a political perspective , Christie had a smooth launch onto the national stage , talking more about Chris Christie -- much more -- than about the man of the hour , candidate Mitt Romney . In the seven-page text of the address sent to reporters , Romney 's name does n't appear until near the bottom of page five .

That 's no surprise : Keynote addresses at the national conventions often serve as the launching pad for politicians preparing their own bids for president , and Christie has not shied away from talk that he might be a candidate in 2016 or later .

But even the most successful convention-speech-as-launch-pad of recent times -- the keynote delivered at the 2004 Democratic convention by a then-little-known Illinois state senator named Barack Obama -- lavishly praised Sen. John Kerry , the party 's nominee that year . Though Obama called Kerry 's name 13 times in that speech , Christie mentioned Romney only seven times .

Clearly , Christie 's political star is rising . But he may also need to refine his `` tough truths '' mantra . The underlying message -- a promise to shrink government and reduce programs like Medicare -- is risky business in an election year .

Voters , like supermarket shoppers , want as much as they can get for as little as they can get away with paying . Our nation 's airwaves and billboards are chock full of companies advertising two-for-one sales and buy-one-get-one-free specials for a reason : it works .

By contrast , you rarely see stores advertise the hard truth that the product is n't as good as they thought , the supplies are limited and the cost is going up .

If the tough-talk message helps Romney win the White House in November , Christie is assured a bright future on the national stage . But if he hopes to repeat any version of Obama 's astounding leap from keynote to candidate , he 'll have to get New Jersey 's fiscal house in order pronto .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Errol Louis .

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Chris Christie built his keynote address to RNC on theme of telling tough truths to America

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Errol Louis says the New Jersey governor has to face the tough truths about his own state

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New Jersey 's unemployment rate is high , and there are questions about finances , he says

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Louis : Christie 's speech went over well , but he did n't mention Romney until late in his talk